Re-useable container



g- 1966 c. D. AMANN 3,263,347

RE-USEABLE CONTAINER Filed Dec. 10, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 4

INVENTOR CHARLES DONALD MNN @m @WJ ATTORNEYS United States Patent3,263,847 RE-USEABLE CONTAINER Charles Donald Amann, 262 HermositaDrive, St. Petersburg Beach, Fla. Filed Dec. 10, 1964, Ser. No. 417,3344 Claims. (Cl. 215- 1) The present invention relates to improvements incontainer design and construction which will permit the container, or apart thereof, to be modified, after it has served its original purpose,to enable the same to serve another purpose.

In the merchandising of many products, in recent years, much thought andeffort has gone into making containers attractive, as well as capable ofbeing used after their contents have been consumed. Such added utilityis deemed by many manufacturers to increase the market for the originalproduct, with the additional cost, if any, of the containers over thosepreviously used, being considered justified as a form of salespromotion.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improvedcontainer initially used for packaging a liquid, or other materialcapable of being discharged through a relatively small opening, whichmay be readily converted into a widemouthed container, after havingserved its original usefulness.

In carrying forward the object of the invention all, or a part, of theoriginal container may be utilized, it being anticipated in someinstances that a separate and distinct portion, not a part of theoriginal container, may be used in converting the original container toits new use.

It has been heretofore proposed to provide a container for liquids witha pouring neck having a cap sealed on the neck by a frangible orseverable diaphragm, the cap acting as a stopper upon rupture or cuttingof the diaphragm. Such a conception has not changed the character of thecontainer or provided a new use after the contents of the container hasbeen consumed. According to the invention, the original container isparted in an area of increased cross section at a point substantiallyremoved from the discharge opening of the original container. To partthe container, a frusto-conical portion is preferably provided withfrangible or severable portions disposed between spaced parallel planes.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 1 is an elevational view, partially shown in vertical crosssection, of a container having a relatively small discharge opening anda removable conical section spacing adjacent sections of greaterdimension than the discharge opening,

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 of a modified form of the inventionand illustrating how the severed upper portion of FIG. 1 may bereassociated with the lower portion of the container,

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 1 of a further modification of theinvention in which the upper portion of the original container isremovable by rupture or severing and discarded,

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 1 of the lower portion of FIG, 3provided with a separate and distinct upper portion,

FIG. 5 is an enlarged, cross-sectional, detailed view of the removablefrusto-conical section of the container, for a resulting widemouthedcontainer having a threaded connection of the upper and lower portions,

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 of a snap ring connection between theseparated container parts,

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary, perspective view taken from the inside of thecontainer and showing a bayonet lock type of connection, and

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 5 taken on line VIII-VIII of FIG. '7.

Referring to the drawings, the container 10, may be of any suitableportion by rupture, cutting, tearing, or the like. Plastic containersbeing presently used for household products such as bleach areparticularly well adapted to the present invention.

The parting portion 12 of the container 10 may take many forms to enablethe same to serve the purpose of dividing the original container intotwo parts after it has served its original purpose and its contents hasbeen discharged through a relatively small opening 14. 'Preferably, theparting portion is in the form of a circumferential band, or the like,defined by one or more sever or break lines, scores, grooves,demarcations, etc. I

When the separated parts of the container on opposite sides of theparting portion are to have a mating or telescoping relation followingseparation along the parting portion, the parting portion preferablytakes the form of a frusto-conical portion 16, as more clearly shown inFIG. 5, with spaced, parallel, circumferential grooves 18 and 20providing frangible or severable plane's along which rupture or severingof the continuous uninterrupted body of the container may take place.The grooves 18 and 20 also provide guide lines for a knife, or othersharp instrument, for severing the wall of the container in order toeffect removal of the conical parting portion 16.

When the parting portion 16 is removed, the portion of the containerthen defining the upper and lower edges of the upper and lower portions22 and 24, respectively, are capable of being brought into telescopingrelationship. When such edges or portions directly adjacent thereto areequipped with threads 26 and 28, the portions 22 and 24 may be screwedtogether and when unscrewed will provide a widemouthed container. Thethreads 26 and 28 may be fine or course threads or may have threads ofsuch a severe pitch that none of the threads completely embrace thecircumference of the container parts and enable the coupling of theparts to be effected by partial relative rotation between the parts.

In the modification of FIG. 2, the upper portion 22 conforms to theupper portion 22 of FIG. 1, and illustrates the manner in which theportion 22 of FIG. 1 is attached to the portion 24 of FIG. 1 after theconical parting portion 16 has been removed.

The lower portion 24 of FIG. 2 corresponds generally to portion 24 ofFIG. 1 but has been modified by the provision of a second set of threads28' located directly below a parting line groove 30. This arrangementpermits a selection of the height of the converted container. -Bysevering or rupturing the lower portion 24 at the groove 30, the upperportion 22 can be used at the lower level, in lieu of the upper level,with the container portion above the lower threads 28 being discarded.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the container 32 has a main cylindricalportion 34. having threads 36, or other suitable forms of fastening orholding structure, integrally formed at the upper portion adjacent thedome -38 in which a neck portion 40 is provided and sealed by the cap42. A parting line 44 in the form of a groove is provided along whichthe dome 3-8 may be severed or ruptured from the main body portion 34 ofthe container 3 2 when its contents has been consumed.

In FIG. 4, a separate flat top 44 is shown threaded, or otherwisefitted, to the main body portion 34 of the container 32. In practice,the top 44 will usually be supplied as a premium item, as an inducementfor the original purchase of the container 32 of FIG. 3, to enable thecontainer 32 to be converted into a canister in the manner shown in FIG.4.

r, i) It is anticipated that in lieu of threads, it may be morepractical to use other forms of known fastening means 10- cated betweenthe telescoping portions of the container structure. FIG. '6 shows theupper and lower portions 46 and 48, respectively, of a container spacedby a frustoconical parting portion 50 having spaced, circumferentialparting lines 52 and 54. The portion 46 is provided with acircumferential bead 58 which is adapted to snap into the groove 58 andrest upon the ledge 60 following the removal of the portion 50.

Another form of fastening structure is shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 whereinthe upper and lower esctions 46 and 48, separated by the parting portion50, are connected by a bayonet type lock. Such an arrangement may beprovided .by molding exterior protuberances 62 circumferentially spacedabout the container, which are adapted to pass through circumferentiallyspaced openings 64 in the bead 66 to rest on the head 60' followingrelative rotation between the parted and telescoping portions 46 and48'.

The container structure to which the principles of the present inventionmay be applied may take many shapes and forms and may be fabricated fromnumerous materials. In general, glass would not be particularlysuitable. However, must plastic materials now being used for variousforms of containers can be used, as well as fiber containers andcontainers consisting of fiber and inner metallic or plastic liners inlaminated layers. For convenience, a material which may be severed alongthe parting lines by a knife, or other sharp instrument, will prove tobe the most practical. However, it is anticipated that the separation ofthe container parts may be accomplished with the use of a solvent or byheating, particularly in the case of plastic containers. Also, by usingthin gauge material and scoring the parting portion along spaced,parallel lines, metal containers may be adapted to the present inventionby tearing the metal along the scoring lines through the aid of a fingertab, or the like, attached to the exterior of the container between thescore lines.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire toprotect by Letters Patent is;

1. A container having wall portions and a discharge opening ofrelatively small dimension having a removable closure, said containerwall portions including a first wall portion and a second wall portion,said first wall portion being of greater transverse dimension than saidsecond wall portion, a portion of said container spaced from saidopening having a parting portion for providing said container with awidemouthed opening comprising a severable wall portion disposedintermediate said first and second wall portions, and mating portionsdefined on said container first and second wall portions adjacent saidseverable wall portion adapted for mating relation with each other onseparation of said severable wall portion from said first and secondwall portions.

2. A container as defined in claim 1 wherein said severable wall portionis defined by parting lines of reduced wall thickness circumscri'bingsaid container.

3. A container as defined in claim 1 wherein said severable wall portionis frusto-conical in form and the first and second wall portions of saidcontainer directly adjacent thereto are cylindrical.

4. A container as defined in claim 3 wherein said first and second wallportions are adapted to telescope one within the other upon the removalof said severable wall portions.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,100,576 8/1963Prank 215l1 FOREIGN PATENTS 935,117 '8/1963 Great Britain.

JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner.

GEORGE O. RALSTON, Examiner.

R. PESHOCK, Assistant Examiner.

1. A CONTAINER HAVING WALL PORTIONS AND A DISCHARGE OPENING OFRELATIVELY SMALL DIMENSION HAVING A REMOVABLE CLOSURE, SAID CONTAINERWALL PORTIONS INCLUDING A FIRST WALL PORTION AND A SECOND WALL PORTION,SAID FIRST WALL PORTION BEING OF GREATER TRANSVERSE DIMENSION THAN SAIDSECOND WALL PORTION, A PORTION OF SAID CONTAINER SPACED FROM SAIDOPENING HAVING A PARTING PORTION FOR PROVIDING SAID CONTAINER WITH AWIDEMOUTHED OPENING COMPRISING A SEVERABLE WALL PORTION DISPOSEDINTERMEDIATE SAID FIRST AND SECOND WALL PORTIONS, AND MATING PORTIONSDEFINED ON SAID CONTAINER FIRST AND SECOND WALL PORTIONS ADJACENT SAIDSEVERABLE WALL PORTION ADAPTED FOR MATING RELATION WITH EACH OTHER ONSEPARATION OF SAID SEVERABLE WALL PORTION FROM SAID FIRST AND SECONDWALL PORTIONS.